Confederation Line LRT progresses with work on Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF)

Work continues to progress on Ottawa’s Light Rail Transit project and the Confederation Line Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF).

In mid-April, an LRT update reported mining work continuing east approaching Lyon St. where the work would be expanded to include excavation of the Lyon Station cavern.

Updates also referenced the Coventry Pedestrian Bridge which will “connect the future Tremblay Station, and the existing VIA Rail Station on Tremblay Rd. with the facilities and sites on the north side of the 417, including the Baseball Stadium on Coventry Rd. and surrounding Overbrook Community.”

Ongoing bridge work included rebar installation caisson pouring and concrete placement at the north abutment. The pedestrian bridge superstructure installation will follow in May 2014. Construction on the footbridge is anticipated to be completed in December 2014.

In other areas, work on the MSF continued. Demolition of existing structures had begun in the spring of 2013 and was completed by the fall. Work has since resumed and includes site-clearing, tree removal and excavations for utility work and a new foundation.

The MSF building’s steel structure erection is expected to begin in June with completion in June 2015. Construction of the MSF connector track is scheduled to begin this month and the work there should be finished in spring 2016. The replacement of the Belfast Bridge over the 417 is also connected to the MSF work.

“The MSF connector track will provide Light Rail Transit (LRT) vehicles with access to and from the main Confederation Line track,” says the project report update. “It will run parallel to Belfast Rd., south of Tremblay Rd. and will cross under the existing VIA railway line.”

Located on a 16-acre site on Belfast Rd., the MSF will be used for vehicle assembly, cleaning, inspection, heavy maintenance, washing and storage. The “MSF has been designed to minimize the impacts of its operations on neighbours through specific engineered solutions, including a berm on the north side of the facility,” says the project update. “The construction of the berm will be ongoing from spring 2014 until spring 2015. Final landscaping will both improve the appearance of the site, as well as provide a visual barrier.”